China's Thirst For 'Himalayan Viagra' Could Be Causing An Ecological Disaster

New research suggests that a growing thirst for a so-called
'Himalayan Viagra' amongst China's upper classes could be causing
an ecological disaster.

The traditional medicine, known more often as Yarsagumba, may not
look like much (one
AFP correspondent described it as having "the weight and
consistency of a bumpy cashew nut shell", but feeling "strange,
somehow alien").

However, it's worth a lot — the funghi can go for as much as $100
per gram, with the entire industry worth as much as $11 billion
per year. It is believed to boost the immune system, and has been
prized as an aphrodisiac in Chinese culture for 500 years.

Now research, to be published next week in journal Biological
Conservation, says the Yarsagumba "gold rush" could be
damaging the eco-systems of Nepal and Tibet, where the funghi is
found only at 3,000–5,000 meters (9,800 to 16,000) above sea
level.

In an attempt to assess the effects of collecting the fungus in
Nepal, the study’s authors interviewed more than 200 harvesters
in Dolpa, western Nepal, a region that is home to 60,000
harvesters and contributes about 40% of the total fungus yield in
the country.

They found that the annual trade fell by more than 50% from its
2009 peak to 2011, with most harvesters believing that it had
become more difficult to find the fungus. “The villagers spend
more time in the field but are getting fewer fungi,” [Uttam Babu
Shrestha, the study's lead author] says.

As the harvesters are finding less fungi, they are taking
everything they can find — the researchers say 95% of the funghi
they found hadn't reached maturity yet.

While the end of the "Himalayan Viagra" industry might not sound
like the worst thing in the world, the wider effects of the death
of the Yarsagumba fungus could be big. The fungus works by taking
root in Himalayan ghost moth larvae that live in the soil,
causing them to die and then mushroom out of the ground where
they are then picked. If the fungus died out the area may see a
huge boom in moths, with associated knock-on affects for the
area's ecosystem.

This is just one way in which the Yarsagumba "gold rush" has
affected the region. The BBC
reports that economic tensions between locals and outsiders
over picking the funghi has lead to a number of murders.